Garter snakes taking over Naperville, Illinois

The people of Naperville, Illinois might be saying, "Why'd it have to be snakes?" WBBM reports it is "a genuine snake invasion. Snakes along the river walk and invading yards in Naperville."

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Snakes invade Illinois town

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Garter snakes taking over Naperville, Illinois

Curator Rob Carmichael holds a handful of eastern garter and brown snakes at the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest, Illinois, January 24, 2012. Approximately 225 hibernating snakes were found near the Zion Nuclear Power Plant. The Discovery Center will keep the snakes in a wine chiller set at 48 degrees until May. (Keri Wiginton/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)

Tulips line a portion of the riverwalk along the DuPage River in Naperville, Illinois. Resting below the flags is a local veterans memorial. The riverwalk provides a highly picturesque area within the Naperville landscape in harmony with its surroundings.

A picture of the old Keywester restaurant in Naperville IL

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It sounds like something out of the Old Testament, or Indiana Jones' worst nightmare. Garter snakes seem to have - hopefully temporarily - taken over the town. One woman told WBBM she's seen her UPS delivery man running to avoid the snakes after delivering packages.

A snake expert told the station: "It's unusual for them to be out and that prevalent. Now, they're out feeding in larger numbers. Also the recent rains and the floods are going to drive these animals out of their [burrow]."

HLN says, "The snakes had been hibernating over the long winter, and now they are looking for food. One woman says she has seen five or six snakes hiding in the bushes." The City of Naperville Animal Control says there are 39 different species of snakes that live in Illinois, four of which are venomous.

Luckily, the garter snakes invading Naperville are a nonvenomous species.